The "Losing Ground" mission in MW4 isn't a pre-order exclusive after all

A correction is due on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's "Losing Ground" mission: it is not a pre-order exclusive. Activision has confirmed the mission ships to every buyer of the game, regardless of edition. An earlier report incorrectly stated that only pre-order customers would get access to it — that was wrong, and we apologize to readers and to Activision.

What pre-orders actually get

Pre-ordering does still come with a meaningful perk — just not mission exclusivity. Buyers who pre-order any edition unlock campaign early access on October 16, a full week before the general release on October 23. Everyone else plays the campaign, including "Losing Ground," from launch day. The distinction matters: early access to the whole campaign, not a locked-off mission, is the actual pre-order benefit, as confirmed by the Official CoD Blog.

The Vault Edition adds a 10% loyalty discount for anyone who owns a Call of Duty title from 2019 or later on the same platform, per Activision Support.

The mission itself

"Losing Ground" follows a small squad of South Korean soldiers fighting urban combat to hold back an enemy advance on the Korean Peninsula — the central setting of MW4's campaign. The story unfolds across dual perspectives: Private Park, a South Korean soldier, and the returning Captain Price.

Release and platforms

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 on PC (Steam, Battle.net, Microsoft Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 — the first time a mainline Call of Duty campaign has appeared on a Nintendo platform in over a decade. Pre-orders on Switch 2 open August 26. The game is current-gen only; PS4 and Xbox One are not supported.